Brussels, 10 December 2024 – Future for Religious Heritage is delighted to announce the 2024 overall winner and four finalists of the Religious Heritage Innovator of the Year 2024, an annual award recognising the best projects to protect, enhance and promote European historic places of worship.
The 2024 edition ran from 20 June to 30 September 2024. After a thorough evaluation process, the jury chose the best projects on 25 November 2024, based on the five pillars of the European Commission’s Framework for Action for Cultural Heritage: cooperation, innovation, inclusion, resilience and sustainability.
The selected projects of this year are: “Recording Scotland’s Closing Churches: A Race Against Time” by the Scotland’s Churches Trust; “Buurtbakens Haarlem” by the Municipality of Haarlem in cooperation with seven congregations; “Una catedral en el páramo: Villamorón – Burgos, España” by Asociación Amigos de Villamorón; “3D Sacral Art of Rivne region” by Rivne Museum of Local Lore; and “Focus Craftership: Ora et Labora” by PARCUM (Belgium).
The competition jury was composed of Anne Grady (Head of Development with the National Museum of Ireland to the CULT Committee of the European Parliament), Gilles Guey (President of the Association of Directors of Culture of French Large Cities and Urban Areas), Justin Kroesen (Professor of Cultural History at the University of Bergen), and Greg Pickup (Chief Executive of The Churches Conservation Trust).
A special publication featuring the winning and finalist projects will be released in January 2025. The selected projects will be featured in the next FRH Biennial Conference, which will take place in 2026.
Winner – “Recording Scotland’s Closing Churches: A Race Against Time” by Scotland’s Churches Trust (United Kingdom)
Our overall winner for 2024 is the Scotland’s Churches Trust for their ‘Recording Scotland’s Closing Churches’ project. Through this initiative, the organisation has developed a simple and effective methodology to record the moveable contents (archival materials, musical instruments, paintings, furnishings, etc.) of hundreds of churches in Scotland that are in the process of closing. The methodology does not require specialised knowledge or tools, so the recording can be carried out by a wide range of volunteers of different ages, backgrounds and even faiths who are supported by the Trust through a face-to-face training, a volunteers’ handbook and peer-to-peer mentoring. The development of this new and proven methodology by Scotland’s Churches Trust is much needed in a region where, according to data provided by the same organisation, 114 churches have closed or been put up for sale and two have been demolished since 2020.
Team of volunteers at St Cuthbert’s Saltcoats. 10 August 2024
More information about this project: https://www.scotlandschurchestrust.org.uk/blog/recording-scotlands-closing-churches/
Finalist – “Buurtbakens Haarlem” by the Municipality of Haarlem in cooperation with seven congregations (The Netherlands)
With churches struggling to maintain their operations amidst a declining membership, Buurtbakens Haarlem offers a collaborative approach to repurpose seven churches as community centers, providing residents with a space for social activities, encounter, and reflection. During the first phase of the project, each church formulated a strategy for its future role, while a team of specialists evaluated the necessary architectural modifications for each location. The second phase, which is still ongoing, focuses on the execution of these plans, which include a variety of initiatives from community gardens to housing communities, all designed to fulfill new social and community purposes. The project is coordinated by the Municipality of Haarlem in cooperation the seven congregations of the churches.
Oosterkerk during Burendag 2024 in Haarlem. Photo: Joke Rooseboom.
More information about this project: https://vimeo.com/showcase/9917163
Finalist – “Una catedral en el páramo: Villamorón – Burgos, España” by Asociación Amigos de Villamorón (Spain)
The Friends of Villamorón Association was created in 2003 to save the church of Villamorón, also known as Catedral del Páramo (Cathedral of the Moorland) from abandonment and deterioration. This monumental building is located in a rural, underpopulated area of the province of Burgos (Spain). Through the use of new technologies, the organisation of cultural activities and religious ceremonies, and several crowdfunding campaigns, the association has managed to restore the importance of this enclave in the community. The cathedral is now a thriving place that the Friends of Villamorón continue to keep alive by stimulating artistic creation, encouraging research, hosting conferences and concerts, and keeping it open to visitors.
Asociación Amigos de Villamorón in front of the Catedral del Páramo.
More information about this project: https://www.amigosdevillamoron.com/
Finalist – “3D Sacral Art of Rivne region” by Rivne Museum of Local Lore (Ukraine)
Although the use of 3D techniques is a common practice in many museums nowadays, the Museum of Local Tradition in Rivne was selected as a finalist because of its determination to save its collection of sacral art – which includes icons, paintings, artefacts and other artworks – from the destruction of the war that broke out after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Due to the poor condition of the wood and paint, the collection of sacral art could not be evacuated as its relocation would have further compromised the condition of the objects. With the professional support of local 3D artist Dmytro Krakhmaliuk, the museum was able to digitise over 100 previously unexhibited objects which are now accesible to a broader audience on the online platform Sketchfab.
Digitised Sacred Art Collection of the Rivne Museum of Local Lore (Ukraine).
More information about this project: https://sketchfab.com/rivnemuseum
Finalist – “Focus Craftership: Ora et Labora” by PARCUM (Belgium)
“Focus Craftership: Ora et Labora” is a project to document and preserve the traditional craftsmanship of monastic communities in the region of Flanders, Belgium. The project aims to revitalise these skills, raise awareness of their importance and ensure their transmission to future generations through several actions which include research in the field, the filming of a documentary, and a podcast. The experience gained through all these activities has finally resulted online toolbox (available in Dutch and English) that serves as a comprehensive and easy-to-use guide for documenting, preserving and promoting religious heritage in a way that is respectful with the origins of these crafts and mindful of new contemporary needs.
Filming session during the Focus Craftership project.
More information about this project: https://www.toolboxfocusvakmanschap.be/en/
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